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Arkansas' super delegates look ahead to Democratic convention Wednesday, Feb 20, 2008 By John Lyon Arkansas News Bureau LITTLE ROCK - Don Beavers of North Little Rock has been asked a lot of questions lately by curious friends and acquaintances. "They ask me, 'How are you a super delegate?' and 'What is a super delegate?' They just don't know about the process," Beavers said. He and the nearly 800 other so-called super delegates to the 2008 Democratic National Convention are receiving unprecedented attention this year. Beavers has been a super delegate since 2000, but he said he has never seen so much interest in what he prefers to call "automatic" delegates. "Those active in the party were aware of them, but the general public was probably not aware of them until the press coverage that's resulted due to this election," he said. Unlike most of the 4,049 delegates to the convention in Denver in August, who are selected based on the results of primaries and caucuses in their respective states, super delegates are seated automatically based on their status as current or former elected officeholders or party officials. The super delegates also are free to vote however they choose at the convention, regardless of primary or caucus results in their states. With New York Sen. Hillary Clinton and Illinois Sen. Barack Obama involved in a closely-contested race, it appears possible that neither will win the 2,025 delegates needed to secure the nomination before the convention. If that happens, the super delegates could determine the outcome. Some hope they won't have to, including the co-chairman of Clinton's campaign in Arkansas Martha Dixon of Arkadelphia wants the nomination to be settled before August. "I feel like it would be more fair for everybody, for the ones that voted and were hoping that their vote would count, and it would be fair to the super delegates too. It would be fair all the way around," Dixon said. Bill Gwatney, chairman of the Democratic Party of Arkansas and a super delegate, said he hopes the decision does not come down to the super delegates, but if it does, "I would respect the wishes of the voters from within my state, and I think that's what you're going to see in the Arkansas delegation." Another of the state's super delegates, U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., feels the same way. "Given the fact that Sen. Clinton received 70 percent of the vote in Arkansas in the Democratic primary, my sense is you will not see the super delegates change any time soon," Pryor said. Arkansas' other super delegates are Gov. Mike Beebe; U.S. Sens. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark.; U.S. Reps. Marion Berry of Gillett, Mike Ross of Prescott and Vic Snyder of Little Rock; Democratic National Committee Vice Chairman Lottie Shackelford of Little Rock; and DNC member Karla Bradley of Fayetteville. One add-on delegate will be selected at the party's state convention March 8. Nearly all of the state's super delegates have endorsed Clinton. The Obama camp has argued the candidate with the most popular support should receive the support of the super delegates - more of whom have endorsed Clinton than Obama. If Obama wins the most pledged delegates yet looses the nomination because of super delegates, "there is obviously going to be some controversy," said Andrew Dowdle, assistant professor of political science at the University of Arkansas. "My guess is that if that scenario happened, Sen. Clinton would have to find some way to placate Sen. Obama," Dowdle said. "I'm not sure if a vice presidential nomination would do that, but at least I would think that a bid would have to be extended, even if she knows that he very well may turn it down." Dixon said that if super delegates end up choosing the nominee, the party may want to "take a serious look" at the nominating process. Other super delegates said it is premature to talk about changing the system. "We need to just let this process work itself out, let all of the voters and participants around the country have their say," Bradley said. Berry said the loser is likely to be unhappy no matter how the outcome is achieved. He said he sees no reason to change the rules, but if enough people believe the system should be changed, the party will look at that after the convention. "Right now, I don't see any point in even discussing it," he said. Dowdle said the Democratic Party created super delegates in the 1980s in response to concerns that the primary and caucus system - which had replaced a system in which party bosses chose the nominee - was too likely to produce weak nominees like George McGovern, the party's 1972 nominee who went on to lose the general election to Republican Richard Nixon. Some are now saying the super delegates have too much power - an ironic complaint, given that the original purpose for creating super delegates was to give party leaders more power. "It's basically a system that may be discarded because it works the way it's supposed to," Dowdle said. |
